The present disclosure relates generally to the field of nozzles for boosted pressure or boosted flowrate cleaning machines, such as pressure washers and garden hose booster systems.
Household garden hoses may be used for a wide variety of tasks around a home. However at the water pressures supplied by a faucet or bibcock of a household plumbing system, the out-going streams are typically limited to a pressure of about 40 to 60 pounds per square inch (psi), flowing at a rate of about 3 to 5 gallons per minute (gpm). As such, the water pressure and flow rate may be insufficient to effectively scrub surfaces, quickly water plants, or controllably spray distant cleaning targets. To compensate for insufficient water pressure, household garden hoses may be fitted with a wide variety of fittings and nozzles to provide a stream of water with an increased exit velocity. However to increase the out-going velocity of the water stream, such nozzles may greatly reduce the out-going flow rate.
Powered pressure washers are used to clean dirt, paint, or mold from pavement, brick face, cement, or other surfaces. To achieve such results, these devices include a high-pressure water pump and generally provide a high powered water stream (e.g., approximately 1400 psi) at a modest flow rate (e.g., approximately 1.3 to 1.4 gpm). Heavy duty pressure washers may provide streams with even higher pressures (e.g., 3000 to 5000 psi) at possibly greater flow rates (e.g., approximately 3.5 gpm). The high pressure streams of heavy duty pressure washers facilitate more demanding tasks, such as resurfacing or cutting of materials.
Serving as a middle ground between unassisted garden hoses and powered pressure washers, garden hose booster pumps provide extra water pressure (e.g., between 100 to 500 psi above unassisted pressure) and increased flow rate (e.g., greater than 5 gpm) for indoor or outdoor applications, such as gardening, cleaning, or other applications. Water pressure levels produced by garden hose booster pumps are low enough that standard, conventional garden hoses may be used, but high enough to meet the requirements of various tasks, such as removing stuck-on plant debris from a vehicle, dried-on bird waste from a window, or spider webs from an eve of a high roof line, for example. As such, the added boost provided by a garden hose booster pump may produce water streams powerful enough to enhance performance of everyday household cleaning tasks that are generally outside of the capabilities of both unassisted garden hoses and powered pressure washers.
In certain applications, a long traveling distance of a cleaning machine spray beam is a useful feature, such as during second-story window cleaning from the ground or during gutter cleaning from the top of a stationary ladder. In other applications, high beam strength of a pressure washer spray beam is a useful feature, such as for washing off tree sap or bird residue. However, due to limitations of some pressure washers and unassisted or boosted garden hose systems, spraying beams may not be focused, coherent, or steady upon leaving a spray gun. Instead the spraying beams may have a high degree of turbulence and choppiness, causing beam water to scatter, weakening the beam, reducing water density of the beam, increasing the beam surface area and drag on the beam, and shortening the potential traveling distance of the beam.